An international team of scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Imperial College London (IC), and Kiel University (CAU), headed by Professor Michael Bonitz of the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at CAU and Professor Matthew Foulkes of the Department of Physics at IC, has achieved a major breakthrough in the description of warm dense matter – one of the most active frontiers in plasma physics and material science. This exotic state of matter is characterized by the simultaneous presence of strong quantum effects, thermal excitations, and strong interaction effects, and differs completely from the usual solid, liquid, gas and plasma states commonly found on Earth. A full understanding of the interplay of these three effects has been lacking until now. The tri-national team of scientists published their research findings in the current edition of Physical Review Letters.